Ken Burns discusses 'Central Park Five'

The level of respect I have for the work of Ken Burns is a little bit ridiculous. Any project he is involved with is something I will check out, with 'Baseball' and 'The Civil War' being among my favorite documentaries.

The filmmaker recently discussed his latest project, 'The Central Park Five,' which debuts on PBS April 16. Burns talked to the Television Critics Association on Monday and talked about his difficulty in finding funding for the film, which dealt with the wrongful conviction of five New York youths in 1989.

"This is a difficult story," he said, "It scared away a lot of our traditional funders." The conviction of the five men was overturned in 2002; however, the media largely ignored it. That is one of the things that pushed Burns, his daughter Sarah and her husband David McMahon into pursuing the film.

"I don't think it's the most controversial," Burns added, "There are aspects in almost all of [my] films in which we have been unable to present a nostalgic version of American history … but something that tried to balance the realities of it. These are tough times for underwriting. And I think particularly for some, not knowing what the final product would be like … prudence made it something they stayed away from."